Surya Sekhar Ganguly stuns Sorokin

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, JULY 26. Grandmaster Evgeny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan left the other contenders way behind to be assured of title with two rounds to spare collecting eight points after his classic win over his `student' and IM Pendyala Harikrishna in a 11th round game which he felt was the toughest for him here in the Wipro international Grandmasters chess tournament being held at Hotel Taj Residency here today.

In the biggest upset of the day, rising star from Bengal, Surya Sekhar Ganguly shocked GM Maxim Sorokin of Argentina to notch up his third win over a Grandmaster in this edition besides Vladimirov to a draw in the earlier rounds.

In the Reti-English opening, Vladimirov delighted the connoisseurs with near flawless display in the opening by playing just five moves of pawns and his knight manouveres in the first 25 moves. Harikrishna followed the book rule by sacrificing a pawn in the centre and Vladimirov not only accepted it but also gave up the double bishop advantage to his rival.

In the post- game analysis, it looked Harikrishna could have still managed a draw despite being pawn down. But, he preferred to go for an opposite colour bishop ending. In order to get rid of Vladimirov's knight, Hari gave up his active bishop. But the brilliance of the Grandmaster was to the fore in the end-game where he clearly dished out quite a few lessons for the Indian. Vladimirov's passed pawn on the `b' file made the ultimate difference as Harikrishna was forced to quit in the rook-ending after 76 moves. Commenting on the match, Vladimirov felt that his opponent made a mistake by playing Be7 which let him (Grandmaster) make the Qb3. After that Harikrishna sacrificed his pawn. ``Definitely, then I have not chosen the best plan. But the position was equal in the middle-game though I had an extra pawn.

Then normal result was a draw. But, there was the time trouble which saw Hari commit a mistake by giving up his second pawn,'' he explained. While Vladimirov was planning meticulously, he admitted that he was fascinated to see Harikrishna come up with a masterly move - Bd4 - which brought the Indian back into the game from a near hopeless position.

However, Vladimirov started queening his pawn for the second time. ``It is hard to say whether Hari could have defended. But it was a very complicated ending,'' he remarked. ``With the clock running out, Harikrishna opted for the incorrect solution from the opposite bishop ending to rook-ending. Then my passed pawn on `b' file played the decisive role. Initially, rook ending is a draw,'' he said to another query. But, Vladimirov's end-game should have been an object lesson in clinching the issue from no- win situation for the ordinary players as the master drew from his vast experience of playing 700 games in the last 24 years.

In the battle between IM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and Maxim Sorokin the former employed his favourite Scotch Opening. On the ninth move, Sorokin came up with an unusual move - d5 - for the regular Qe6. ``It developed into a position from which black could never win,'' was Ganguly's observation. Definitely, Sorokin's pawn structure was not good and soon he was forced to play the d5 move which resulted in Ganguly's pieces gain momentum. The Indian's bishop was aggressively posted and his knight occupied the strong `d4' square.

``Though Sorokin offered me a pawn twice for my knight I refused it for tactical superiority,'' he revealed later. Clearly, Ganguly had the Grandmaster under severe pressure throughout the contest which he wrapped up after 39 moves. ``This is without doubt my best win (his third) in this tournament,'' Ganguly observed.

Kunte too good for Aarthie

Grandmaster Abhijit Kunte, who opted for his favourite Closed Variation of the Sicilian, was too good for the out-of-form Aarthie Ramaswamy. Quite early in the opening game, Aarthie was piece down. Compared to this, Kunte's knights were in the centre. His bishop and queen penetrated the centre too. Once he managed to open up the `a' file, Kunte gained complete control of the board with his bishop and queen joining the forces. When Aarthie lost a pawn on the 29th move (c5), Kunte also sacrificed an exchange after two moves. With her inability to avoid a mate, Aarthie had to resign after 38 moves. This is Kunte's third win in this tournament and he has five points now.

Sandipan Chanda holds Fominyh

In a gruelling battle lasting 99 moves, IM Sandipan Chanda gave a spirited performance to hold GM Alexander Fominyh. Playing black, Sandipan was hardpressed in the end-game arising from a Queen's Indian pattern of former world champion Anatoly Karpov. With bad bishop and passive rook, Sandipan defended the position remarkably well. He successfully thwarted all attempts from his rival who promoted the queen twice but could not make any dent in the fortress of Sandipan.

WGM-elect S.Vijayalakshmi celebrated her recent stunning achievement with a brilliant win over former national champion and GM K.Sasikiran to be one point away from her second men's IM norm (she has to play two more games against Aarthie Ramaswamy and D.V.Prasad).

In the Queen's Gambit declined variation, Sasi's queenside pawn structure was fractured by her and later she concentrated on the `c' pawn. For active play in the end-game of double rooks on each side, Sasikiran gave away the `c' pawn and looked comfortable. After playing her 40th move, Vijayalakshmi claimed a draw for repetition of position which was declined by the arbiter. Though as a penalty of two minutes could have been reduced from her time, at the behest of Saskiran she was let off with a mere warning. After that, it looked a draw before Sasikiran overreached a position and paid the penalty by losing the game after 85 moves. Ironically, Vijayalakshmi offered draw twice earlier in the game but her opponent declined.

The results: (Eleventh round): D.V.Prasad (4.5) gets a bye; Abhijit Kunte (5) bt Aarthie Ramaswamy (1); S.Vijayalakshmi (4.5) bt K.Sasikiran (5.5); Alexander Fominyh (5.5) drew with Sandipan Chanda (4.5); Evgeny Vladimirov (8) bt Pendyala Harikrishna (5); Sergey Ionov (3.5) - rest day; S.S.Ganguly (4.5) bt Maxim Sorokin (4.5).

Thursday's pairings: P.Harikrishna vs Sergey Ionov; Sandipan Chanda vs Vladimirov; Sasikiran vs Alexander Fominyh; Aarthie Ramaswamy vs S.Vijayalakshmi; D.V.Prasad vs Abhijit Kunte; Maxim Sorokin gets a bye; S.S.Ganguly - rest day.

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